I'm looking at getting the new supreme 226. What does everyone think about that boat and what are the pro's and con's?

migs

05-24-2012 9:29 AM

dont know about the 226, but ive owned 2 V220's & they both were trouble free rock solid boats.
my 07 is now in the Philippines with over 750 hours and the only thing needed was a new fuel pump when she hit 680 hrs.

ReSession

05-25-2012 4:37 AM

Daniel,

I picked up a 2011 Supreme V226 at the end of August last year and could not be more pleased with my purchase. For the money (under $65k delivered from Cali to Albany, NY fully loaded with BulletSpeakers/Arc Audio stereo setup and extra ballast/engine compartment supports that I had them install), it was the right boat for me! I couldn't justify spending more or going with a used Enzo/Tige' since we only get to ride from end of April IF we're lucky through the first week of October. I like to live within my means as well...I owe less than $20k on it and only financed for 5 years...again, I can't justify financing for +60 months as you're just paying crazy interest at that point!

The last 3-4 times we've gone out this week I believe I've exclaimed outloud that "I LOVE this boat!" and "this wave is freaking INSANE!". I traded in my 2006 V220 for it, so I've been in the Supreme family for a few years and never had any major issues (seems common to have the exhaust manifold gasket go out, which was only a few hundred bucks to fix). Again, that was my old boat and haven't experienced any issues like that, with the exception of my ECU actually being replaced at the end of a the season...got a misfire code and Mercury replaced it for no cost and everything has been running great. Still at about 75 hours.

I use it for wakesurfing only...it's the reason I bought it. I don't have any kids, not into wakeboarding anymore (after shattering my femur in 14 places in 2000) and don't need to pull tubers. I had a 2006 V220 previously. In comparison, the V220 was much more agile in regards to sharp turns, etc (for tubing). The V226, much more of a gentler turn...it sits MUCH higher out of the water than most every other boat and has a super Deep-V (very similar to the Enzo hull when comparing pics from the rear). Although the other day I was cruising at 21mph and the wake looked amazing for wakeboarding...both sides were super rampy and no froth.

The V226 comes with 3 stock ballast tanks...2 x 250 in the rears and 600 center, along with a trim tab. I had a 6th pump added (Jabsco), as there are 5 stock Tsunami's plumbed for quick fills. I plumbed in a 1100 lb sac into the rear port compartment (which fills to about 950-1000 lbs) and including a switch-over connection if I want to fill the 'dark' side. I then have 400 lbs of lead weight from Lead Wakes (8 polyurethane-reinforced waterproof bags x 50 lbs each), allowing me to move it around under the port hatch compartment and normally place those under the passenger port seat. If I want to go more weight, I have a 400 lb sac that I can fill with a separate Tsunami pump under the port passenger seat but haven't had to worry about that! We cruise at 10.7mph...just seems to be the sweet spot for this boat?

The wave is amazing! My buddies have Malibu's, Mastercrafts and theirs just don't compare. It's SUPER long and I have recently been playing with the trim tab (was running at 100% last year but have now learned 50% makes it huge, and 75-100% is nicer for skimming and the girls to ride a less-aggressive wave). I LOVE not having to put any sacs on the seats...one thing to note is there is not any under-bow storage compartments to put integrated bow sacs in (like I had with my V220). I'll likely put a sac on the seat up there...even then, you can still fit 4 adults in the bow! But, you really don't need to as the trim tab does a great job bringing the bow down. The boat is HUGE...at least a foot wider than the V220, the bow is like a 5-person (empty) hot tub! There is SO much storage, you can actually be in the bow and open the port side seat hatch from the front, crouch down and crawl through the back under the windshield and come out the other side! Not that you'd ever do this, but 2 people could lay down in the port side hatch and sleep comfortably!

Pros: huge and long surf wave, no sacs on seats, you can fill the boat with 9 people and still have plenty of room to move around in under 5 minutes...anyone and everyone that gets in exclaim how big it feels ("how big is this boat again?" is a common question as people think it's 24'...it's only 22.6'). The super-deep V hull cuts through waves like no other boat I've been on before. With my V220, if the waves were too big on the main lake...there was no option to go out and we'd have to stick to a few bays. With the V226, it doesn't even seem to matter...2-3' waves are sliced through, allowing you to get through rough water to find the glass! It's got a huge rear sun pad (I don't like walk-thru's that mess up the pad...the girls love to lay back there and makes for great eye candy!). The boat sits very high in the water (i.e. tall gunwale) and you step down into a sunken living room. And, you never have to have anyone sit on the rear sunpad or on the side of the boat to make the wave better!

Cons: no integrated ice chest? I dunno, maybe I'm jaded but it's a perfect match for me! It doesn't have a HUGE top speed...around 37mph with the stock prop. But I'm running the Scorpion 350, not a big PCM 409 or something bigger. We're at 91' altitude, so I have no need to find a better prop or possibly loose a few MPH's at the top end. I have no problem with 'hole shot' and the SmartTow system works flawlessly. Attempting to maneuver at slow speeds is a challenge (i.e. pulling onto trailer), especially if you have some wind to deal with, but this could be common with other boats too? I'm sure there's some 'bells and whistles' that the other boat manufacturer's offer that I'm just not used to knowing as being a 'standard' for boats. I don't need a touch-screen digital dash and the SmartTow system has a ton of settings for trips, fuel efficiencies, etc that I just haven't even messed with!

Now, I do understand that they changed the swim platform deck height (moved up in 2011 and moved it back down 2-3" in 2012). Personally, I love where my platform sits as I can't imagine what would happen to the wave if it were 2" lower (right now, I have about 2" of water that will pass over the corner of the platform but does absolutely nothing to the wave except cause maybe 10 trickles of water beads in the first few inches of the wave). Ragboy had said that the 'dark' side of the wave *may* be affected by this platform height difference, but that's yet-to-be-determined? We may give the dark side a go this weekend? See last year's thread @ http://www.wakeworld.com/forum/showt...21#post1705805 for reference.

Here's a video from last weekend to give you an idea of the wave and fun we're having on this boat! It's shot in 1080 too.

And just for fun, here's a video of just my girlfriend and I surfing 2 nights ago...VT laws don't say this is illegal (yet). I did fill up a 150 lb buddy sac in the corner of the seat but doubt I really needed it?

Well, hopefully this helps with your decision process? I've got the day off today and taking the V226 to get my WS-420 EQ installed this morning, and then headed up north with a group of friends to rent a lake house on Isle La Motte 45 minutes north of Burlington, VT through the weekend and the weather is going to be amazing!

Woody

05-25-2012 10:29 AM

Greg, my 2011 V226 has two coolers in the bow one on each side.

I have to ask man, what's that hyperlite board doing on your boat? LOL:)

ReSession

05-27-2012 10:08 AM

Brian, ha...look at that! Never really considered to use those as coolers but I now realize with the plugs that's what they're there for! I actually never had a new boat delivery so I've had to learn about all the features on my own or through this forum.

Regarding the Hyperlite board...funny you asked! That's our buddy "Big James" new board, who weighs in @ 320 lbs and was unable to let go of the rope using the Blue Lake, so he upgrade to the 5' 11' monster in hopes of cutting the cord this year! Of course the day we went out, it was too cold for him to ride so I took the maiden voyage...felt like I was surfing a tree trunk! He's a great human ballast as well ;)

By the way, got the WS-420 installed on Friday and it's so cool! No complaints, can't wait to play around with it more.

mysandman

05-28-2013 7:49 AM

Sorry for a change of topic, but I am a new 2013 V226 owner and am more happy with this boat than I ever imagined.

I am looking to upgrade the sound system, and I learned the boat came with 6 inch cabin speaks. I would love to get some 6.5 inch speakers in the cabin but I can't find any info on weather this is possible. It looks a little tight, but I think there's room....

Thanks for the help!

ReSession

05-28-2013 10:34 AM

James,

Congrats on your new V226! Great boat, huh? Was just out yesterday with a group of friends floating and jamming to music (sun finally came out here in VT for the long weekend after actually snowing 13" in the mountains on Saturday/Sunday!) and people are amazed at the amount of room inside!

Regarding the speakers, I upgraded my 6 in-boat speakers to Wetsounds 6.5" XS-65 last summer and bought a few 1/2" speaker rings to help fill the gap. The XS-65's have a mounting depth of 2.6", whereas the more-expensive XS-650's have a deeper mounting depth of 3.1", so I didn't want to run the risk of them not fitting even with the spacers. The rings are cheap (about $8 a pair) and can be purchased on Amazon - here's the direct link.

Just make sure to crimp those speaker wire connections tight...you may have to bend the copper speaker connections to get the speakers to fit flush in the hole and you don't want to have to unscrew everything because a speaker wire becomes disconnected trying to squeeze everything back in!

Good luck!

newwhit

05-28-2013 10:59 AM

ReSession:

How much of the ballast install did you do compared to Supreme?

Can any mercruiser dealer do warranty work for you, or how does that work? ( i assume there is no Supreme dealer nearby)

Also, how much list do you get running that much weight?

mysandman,

how is the wave with the swim platform lowered down?

both: how much sun coverage go you get with that bimini? (hard to quantify, right?)

Thanks guys!!!

ReSession

05-28-2013 11:47 AM

Newwhit - I had the dealer install a Jabsco ballast for me (mounted to the back wall to the right of the hydraulic fluid reservoir for the trim tab) and they also added two vertical stainless steel bracing between the engine compartment and the port locker. I run the ballast pump right to a 1100lb sac plumbed into the port locker and run a tsunami pump to the top of the bag to help cut down the fill time to under 5 minutes. The rest is stock...I fill all tanks (front, and both rears). I do have 400 lbs of lead sacs (8 x 50lbs) that I keep on the boat and just move 4 of them from the starboard to the port side, placing them under the passenger port seat when I'm ready to surf.

Any Mercruiser dealer can do warranty work for you...you don't need it to be an authorized Supreme dealer. It's much easier getting it serviced 5 miles down the road vs 250 miles to Boston!

As far as list, it's nothing crazy...I mean, you're definitely listing but normally I'm a good 8-10" above the rub rail when filled and 5-6 passengers. You can see the boat stern compared to the water level and get an idea. Video

Sun coverage with the bimini - it's not a HUGE bimini by any means, no coverage up front and no coverage for the sun deck...basically passengers sitting down inside the boat will have coverage. There's definitely bigger bimini's out there but I really like it (I don't have kids so I don't have to worry about them burning up!)

*I was looking at some pics of the 2013 V226 and it *appears* that the platform level was raised again to the same height on my 2011, but I could be wrong?

newwhit

05-29-2013 10:46 AM

thanks for the reply! that is TOO cool that they did some custom work for you!